Thursday, January 31, 2013

Today has been one of those days. So much so that I grumbled on Facebook:

"The problem with young adults living at home is that you are no longer parenting them, at least not in their minds. Watching their decision making is tough. Putting up with their stupidity ditto. Quite possibly more frustrating than parenting the terrible twos - at least then, you could use time outs."

Our gaggle of offspring are 22, 20 and 18. The older two are firmly entrenched in post secondary studies, one living at home and the other on a campus 3000 km away. The youngster is working full time, with post secondary plans down the road. All three have a toe dipped into the adult world, the other foot firmly in the safety net of parental care.

Today's challenge actually started more than 24 hours ago, and involves the youngest little darling. He's type 1 diabetic but he's an adult now, and so I'm not supposed to be worrying about him or how he manages his diabetes. He's got it all under control, really. (If I could I'd insert a picture of my childhood friend making her best 'you're kidding me' face, where she rolls both eyes in toward her nose like no one else can).

Anyway, late Tuesday night child 3 informs me that he is 'almost' out of one type of insulin, thinks he has enough to handle the night and morning dose. Nothing like giving me some time to take care of this issue, son. Well, not only did he tell me at the 11th hour, I promptly forgot. #momfail #momguilt

Boy leaves for work about 7:30 a.m. as usual, and ends up working late. Comes home disgruntled about all of the overtime he is making (really!), showers and goes out with the girlfriend. Despite the cold, hubby and I've been out for dinner, spitting distance from the WalMart pharmacy, but the needed insulin has completely slipped my mind.

11:30 p.m., I bolt out of a nice deep sleep at the sound of rumbling in the kitchen, realizing that I failed to buy insulin. I utter a string of expletives and apologize profusely to the boy (but wait, is this really all on me?), who's reaction is to say

And at that point, despite his reassurance that he has it all under control, I'm wide awake with no hope of falling asleep anytime soon. I doze through some conversation between the lad and his father at the crack of dawn but I'm not sure of the details.

9:30 a.m. the boy sends me a text message:

"Can you get Insulin ASAP. I might need to come get it."

As I'm leaving, I pass him arriving home, and we have a brief and unpleasant conversation. He's upset with his job: too much work, too much overtime. He's thinking he'll quit. I'm thinking 'this is blood sugar talking', because that's an irrational decision if ever there was one. There is no reasoning to be had. He's angry, he's not going to wait for the proper insulin, he's going to have more of the fast response stuff and get back to work. I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall. Or banging my head against one.

Such a conundrum: quitting because I'm working too much. Why, just this past fall he left a pretty sweet gig with a rugby academy because he wasn't able to find enough work in Vancouver. Came back home to the booming Edmonton economy, to a job he has repeatedly says he likes (loves perhaps?), and now thinks it reasonable to quit over too many hours.

"Hey, kid, you do know that all those hours means mucho dinero in your banko, right?" (and more importantly, keeps you out of the bank of mom).

The challenge here is that I know that, no matter my reasonable and knowledgable thoughts on this topic, he'll do what he thinks is best. I'll "let" him make his bed and lie in it (as my mother said to me ad nauseum in my youth), but I'll have just as many feelings of guilt over it as I do over forgetting to buy his insulin. Even though 'he's an adult, and managing just fine'.

I'm so logical that I dealt with my frustration by buying a new shower curtain and bath mat, in menopause mauve just because I can. Mauve is a spring like, happy color, and it will inject a bit of whimsy into my day.

Came home to find he'd left muddy boot prints all over the bathroom floor.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Welcome 2013, and all of the potential for good things that you are dangling in front of us. I'm really looking forward to what the world has in store for us, so much so that I'm willing to make public two resolutions.

I'm jumping on the 'get fit and get slimmer' bandwagon. Not sure which one I'll hitch my horse to but I've finally gotten to the point where I dislike my size enough to try to change it. Been thinking about this the whole holiday season but reached that point of utter revulsion that inspires change yesterday. This started with the need to buy new undergarments to be able to carry off the party dress I wanted to wear for the wonderful New Years party we were invited to. Steeled my courage and went out shopping, but first I'd asked Daryl to help me moisturize my Alberta winter skin by putting lotion on my back. Body Shop body butter in excess - feels great, but creates a challenging environment for pulling on clothes. Getting my jeans on in order to go shopping was humorous - shades of the Friends episode where Ross can't get the leather pants up.

Fast forward to the dressing room at the Bay. Ultra hold undergarments. Skin still oily with body butter. Flashback to Ross in the bathroom with the baby powder and the failed attempts to get his pants back on. Sigh.

My second resolution is to be much more social. We made some great new friends in 2013, and of course have some really great old friends as well. Thanks to Travis and Angie, Richard and Sheri, Bruce and Nancy, we've been going out or getting together to cook and eat (and drink). We've hosted at our hovel and the world didn't end even though our bathrooms are in desperate need of renovation. It's been so much fun, and I'm inspired to do much much more this year.

I hope that all of my friends, new and old, have a healthy, joyful and prosperous 2013 and that we find ways to spend more time together this year.

About Me

Nature loving prairie girl. Wanna be world traveller. Love good conversation over wine. Owner of Windermere Studios in southwest Edmonton, home to a gorgeous park like setting for Portraits. I've been providing Photography Services to the Sport Community of Edmonton and area since 2005. I've had the pleasure of covering local, provincial and national level competitions for soccer, rugby, badminton and dance. I bring experience and enthusiasm for the game to your sport events! I'm proud to support charities like Autism Society of Edmonton and The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation by donating my services for their events, as well as being a volunteer photographer for The Maple Leaf Mission and Help Portrait.

SmugMug Referral Code

If you are looking for a photo sharing web site I highly recommend SmugMug. SmugMug has a variety of service levels that will suit your needs, whether you want a site for sharing with family and friends or a site for selling your photography or other art work.
Check out my SmugMug galleries
and if you like what you see, use this referral code to save yourself $5.00 on your first subscription.
XkY39ZthJ8xIA